Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery

Wise Monument Rededication Ceremony: Sunday, November 9th

On Sunday, November 9th, 2008 at 10:00 AM, there will be a rededication ceremony for the Wise Monument at Riverside. The monument was restored by the Fairmount Historic Foundation through funding provided by the Colorado Historical Society.

The Colorado National Guard presided at the dedication of the monument 120 years ago and will participate at the rededication as well. Ceremony participants include: The Adjutant General of Colorado, Major General H. Michael Edwards; Colorado Army National Guard Commander, Brigadier General Thomas Mills; the Colorado Historical Society; and the National Anthem, will be performed by the Denver Municipal Band Brass Quintet. The ceremony is free and open to the public.

About William Wise

William (Billy) Wise arrived in the Pikes Peak region in May of 1859, and is listed as a true Colorado Pioneer. William had immigrated from Germany as a teenager, and after an enlistment in the army, had moved to the region as an entrepreneur.

When the Civil War broke out, William enlisted in the Denver Home Guards, a militia unit. When the term of service for the Denver Home Guards expired in the spring of 1862, William helped raise a company for the 2nd Colorado Volunteer Infantry. The Company was mustered in with Edward Berthoud as Captain, and William Wise as 1st Lt. The 2nd Colorado Volunteer Infantry, and 3rd Colorado Volunteer infantry regiments were mustered into U. S. service, even though neither one reached full strength. The two infantry regiments were combined and re-designated 2nd Colorado Volunteer Cavalry, and served with distinction in the volatile Missouri region until the War was over.

William returned to Denver, and opened a restaurant, appropriately named Billy’s Restaurant. William married Anna Schlesinger, and their first child, Lillie, died in infancy early in 1867. Their second child George, was born in Cheyenne. Like his father, George was a well liked and respected young man in Denver. George served as a page in the Colorado Senate, and was a member of the Colorado National Guard when he died just shy of his 20th birthday in 1887. The graves of William, Anna, and George are memorialized by a magnificent soldier monument, whose face is in the in the likeness of George.

Wise Monument at Riverside Cemetery, Denver

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Pioneer Cemeteries: Sculpture Gardens of the Old West

Congratulations to Annette Stott, Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery Board member and co-chair of our history and research committee, on the publication of her new book, “Pioneer Cemeteries: Sculpture Gardens of the Old West.”

This extraordinary book traces the development of the cemetery in five western states from 1860-1890, from the time of the ‘boot hill’ graveyard to the designed and manicured ‘fair mount.’ As Annette says in her description:

Before the advent of art museums, public libraries or civic sculpture, the Rocky Mountain cemetery functioned as a repository of art and history… The emerging sepulchral garden functioned as an open-air gallery of public sculpture, at once a site for relaxation, learning and social ritual.

As one of the first park-like designed resting places in the Rocky Mountain West, Riverside offers a premier example of the role that the cemetery played in daily life. The statuary is a memorial both those whose “life had ceased” and also to the way of life in an environment that was often harsh and unforgiving.

Death was highly visible in the old west, where public hangings and burials created public spectacles. Indian wars, disease, lack of law enforcement, the dangers of childbirth, accidents and unpredictable mountain weather contributed to high mortality rates. Society coped with death by incorporating into daily life the rituals of burial, mourning, monument unveilings and grave decorating, often involving public parades, music and speeches.

In addition to writing this book and working with our history and research committee, Dr. Scott somehow finds time to chair the Art and Art History Department at the University of Denver.

Pioneer Cemeteries: Sculpture Gardens of the Old West is published by University of Nebraska Press. The book can be purchased via their website, as well as at The Tattered Cover in Denver or from Amazon.com.

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Riverside in the Denver Post on August 26

Tom McGhee of the Denver Post wrote an article called “Some cemeteries dig green burials” that was published on August 26th. In it, he discusses some of the options for finding additional income to support the operations of Riverside (and other cemeteries), including green burial.

McGhee focuses primarily on the green burial option, but also touches on other initiatives that could help improve the environment and finances at Riverside, including xeriscaping and including parts of Riverside in the Platte River Greenway, which is currently moving their focus to the River North part of the city.

All of these initiatives are going to take time, money, and effort; hopefully we’ll see some movement on all of these in the near future.

Post photographer Andy Cross took this photo of the cemetery, including the Baker Horse in the background among other monuments.

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June 21-22: Riverside Gravestone Assessment & Cleaning Workshop

The Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery and the Fairmount Heritage Foundation are hosting a gravestone assessment and cleaning workshop on Saturday, June 21st and Sunday June 22nd. The workshop will be taught by Jayne Uhlir, and we are limited to 12 participants total, so please send contact us quickly if you would like to take part in this training. The cost is $25 per participant. If you are interested in participating please send an email to friends@friendsofriversidecemetery.org.
Details are as follows:

Date and Time:
June 21 Saturday 8:30 – Noon
June 22 Sunday 9:00 – 3:00 PM

Saturday, June 21: This is a half-day event, classroom style where attendees learn the concepts. We have a brief hands-on practice session at the end to further solidify the information.

By the end of this half-day workshop, participants will be familiar with:
Field Safety
Stone Identification
How to Complete Condition Surveys
Responsible Cleaning of Grave Markers

Preliminary Agenda:
8:30 A.M. Welcome & Overview
8:40 A.M. Introductions
8:50 A.M. Training Goals
9:00 A.M. Value of Cemeteries
9:15 A.M. The Big Picture
9:30 A.M. How to Assess Gravestone Conditions
9:45 A.M. Break (10 minutes)
11:00 A.M. Cleaning Gravestones
11:30 A.M. Assessment Exercise
12:00 P.M. Wrap-Up

Sunday, June 22: This is a 3/4-day work day out in the cemetery.

By the end of this event, participants will be:
Sunburned
Exhausted
Filthy Dirty
Happy
Bonded with their work groups
More confident making condition assessments and cleaning stones

Remember to pack your lunch for Sunday and sunscreen, sunglasses and shade hats if you’re susceptible to burn and heat. Layered clothing and close-toes shoes are also strongly encouraged.

Note: Fairmount Heritage Foundation Volunteers who have already been trained are welcome to attend the field day on Sunday; however, please let us know if you are planning to attend so we can assign you a team. Email friends@friendsofriversidecemetery.org

Please plan to arrive by 8:15 a.m. on Saturday at the Riverside Chapel for Training Day. (If you are already a FHF volunteer who’s been through a training before, you don’t need to attend on Saturday but we still need to know you want to participate on Sunday so we can assign you to a team.) Teams will be picked on Saturday.

Assessment and cleaning supplies will be made available to you. However, here are some optional (but helpful) items you may wish to bring:
– Garden gloves
– rose clippers (in case headstone has dead stalks/branches/ foliage to clear out before cleaning)
– Kneeling pads
– Hand held mirrors (for reading faded inscriptions)
– Fanny Packs for toting odds & ends

When we select teams on Saturday, we’ll identify who will bring the camera for their team. If you are bringing the camera, be sure your battery is well charged! Also check to ensure your picture sizes are set for somewhere around 640 x 480. (This will help us keep our file sizes under control when we upload all photo documentation to the computer.)

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Saturday, May 17th: Annual Meeting and Riverside Open House [updated]

Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery will be hosting our first annual members meeting on Saturday, May 17th at 10:00 am at the Holy Transfiguration of Christ Cathedral Social Hall.

Everyone is encouraged to attend this meeting – this is your chance to meet others who share your interest in increasing awareness and promoting preservation of Riverside Cemetery.

At this meeting we will vote for the first ‘official’ board of directors of our organization, and will also have an update from each of our committee chairs on activities to expect in the coming season. Our committees include Preservation and Environment, Events, Community Relations, Volunteers.

The meeting will be followed by a casual picnic and open house at Riverside starting after the meeting (approximately noon). It’s a bring your own lunch, though our board member Sandy Marvin has graciously agreed to provide lemonade.

At 1:00pm, Garry O’hara will be leading a tour of Riverside for our members. The tour should last about 2 hours, though of course you don’t have to stay for the whole thing; it’s sure to be both educational and entertaining.

Riverside is located at 5201 Brighton Boulevard in Denver. Directions to Riverside are available on our Visit Riverside Page.

RSVP by sending an email to friends@friendsofriversidecemetery.org

Interested in becoming involved? Joining our board of directors or one of our committees? Let us know by sending an email to the same address: friends@friendsofriversidecemetery.org

What: Friends of Historic Riverside Annual Meeting

When: Saturday, May 17th, 2008, 10:00 – 11:30 am
(Followed by Riverside Open House/Picnic)

Where: Holy Transfiguration of Christ Cathedral Social Hall
349 E. 47th Ave.
Denver, CO 80216

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Riverside selected as one of Colorado’s most endangered places

At the ‘Saving Places’ conference last week (put on by the fine folks at Colorado Preservation), Riverside Cemetery was selected as one of Colorado’s most endangered places for 2008. A number of our friends group attended the announcement luncheon, which included a video created by KCNC Channel 4, the CBS affiliate in Denver. Here is the video for your online viewing pleaure:

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Denver’s Riverside Cemetery: Where History Lies

For anyone interested in the remarkable history of Riverside Cemetery, there is no better single resource than Annette Student’s book, published in 2006, called “Riverside Cemetery: Where History Lies.”

As the Colorado Geneology Blog, cogenblog, said when the book was published last year:

A new book has just been published about Denver’s historic Riverside Cemetery, Colorado’s oldest “cemetery park” founded in 1876 (the same year Colorado became a state). According to the author, Annette L. Student, the book not only includes a history of the cemetery, but also 114 biographies of interesting Colorado citizens, including governors and other notable citizens ranging from cattlemen to prostitutes.

You can pick up the book in a number of bookstores locally:
Barnes and Noble (at a number of their Denver area stores)
Tattered Cover (online or at their stores – check for locations).
Colorado Historical Society bookstore (10% discount to CHS members; all copies signed by author).

The book is also available from the author; if you order directly, your copy can be personally autographed. You can contact the author by writing to the following address:

Annette L. Student
2266 South Eagle Court
Aurora, Colorado 80014

Thanks to our friends at CoGenBlog for posting this information as well.

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Honoring Ceremony at Riverside Cemetery

Riverside Cemetery will be one of the locations taking part in the 9th Annual Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run/Walk. Specifically, there will be an honoring ceremony at Riverside at 8:00 am on Saturday, November 24th.

This honoring ceremony is for two members of the United States Cavalry, Captain Silas Soule and Lt. Joseph Cramer, who resisted the call by Colonel John Chivington to massacre defenseless members of the Cheyenne tribe at Sand Creek in November of 1864.

Captain Silas Soule is a fascinating character, as you can tell from his wikipedia entry. Born in Maine to a family of abolitionists, he spent some time in Kansas working to ensure its entry into the union as a free state. He came to Colorado and eventually became commander of Company D in the 1st Colorado Cavalry. After the atrocities of Sand Creek, he testified against Colonel Chivington, and also wrote passionate letters describing the massacre. According to this article on historynet.com,

Soule testified forcefully against Chivington. His comments were crucial to the committee’s findings. When the hearings ended, the committee branded Chivington’s raid at Sand Creek “a cowardly and coldblooded slaughter, sufficient to cover its perpetrators with indelible infamy, and the face of every American with shame and indignation.”

Four months later he was killed in his Denver home by Charles Squires, who most likely had been hired by men loyal to Chivington. More information on Silas Soule can also be found on findagrave.com.

The Silas Soule honoring ceremony is just a small part of the planned spiritual healing walk/run. Here is the full calendar of events the group has planned:

November 22-24, 2007

Thursday
7:00 a.m. – Sunrise ceremony at the Sand Creek Massacre Site (18 miles northeast of Eads, CO)
8:00 a.m. – Healing Run starts

Friday
7:00 a.m. – Sunrise ceremony, continue healing run to Denver.
7:00 p.m. – Candlelight Vigil at the Denver Art Museum Wheel sculpture, 100 West 14th Avenue Parkway.

Saturday
8:00 a.m. – Honoring ceremony at Riverside Cemetery, 5201 Brighton Blvd., in Denver, CO.
9:00 a.m. – Continue the healing run to the State Capitol building. Walkers will join the runners and everyone will walk the last mile. Must register to participate at 15th & Arapahoe.
11:00 a.m. – Presentation at the Colorado State Capitol Building on the west side. There will be a reception for the participants at the Colorado Historical Society, Boettcher Auditorium, 1300 Broadway in Denver.

For information you can contact Otto Braided Hair (406) 592-3599, or Bill Tall Bull at (303) 695-4175 or email sandcreek@rangeweb.net.

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A big thank you

Thank you to all who attended the organizational meeting for the Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery on Saturday, November 17th. A special thank you goes out to Father Joseph Hirsch for allowing us to use the Meeting Hall at the Holy Transfiguration of Christ Cathedral.

We had over 30 members of the community attend the meeting, and it was a productive and passionate discussion. We are very excited that ten individuals have volunteered to join our ‘startup’ interim board of directors.

The meeting agenda and notes are available here (in PDF format).

More information will be posted on this site in the near future.

Thanks again to everyone who offered their passion and insight to help save a true historical and cultural gem.

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Riverside in the news

Many of you may have seen the terrific article by Tom McGhee in The Denver Post on October 29th.

Now Adam Goldstein has written a great article on the history of Riverside that was just published in the Commerce City Sentinel Express. The article talks about the many veterans who are buried at riverside, from the Mexican American War to the Gulf War. He interviews Chuck Counts, who says:

The cemetery opened in 1876.
Until the turn of the century, it was the pre-eminent cemetery (in Denver). This is Colorado history right here … I look at it that it’s a treasure.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

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